The Effect of Media on Today's Youth Media plays an important role in a child's development in society. Young people are easily influenced and may think that morally unsavory actions are appropriate because it was in the media. This is a big problem today as news reports of children intentionally committing crimes as large as murder. Kids experiment with drugs and alcohol at an early age, and there's even a show on MTV dedicated to teen moms. Of course, the media is not the only force at fault in this case, as peers and parents are just as responsible as the media. The media is full of violence, sex and addictive substance use, which negatively affects young people. Being young in today's society is a challenge. Many positive and negative influences are thrown at us every day; Without proper guidance, a child may have difficulty distinguishing between right and wrong when there are many ways to influence his or her decisions. In my elementary school we had a mentor who talked to the men in the school. Occasionally these talks involved not being influenced by what we see people doing in the media. He always talked about how being an athlete or a celebrity is a job that few can access because many people always want a job. I wondered how my friends could be so affected by an athlete's actions that they wanted to be just like them. I have witnessed how television and music can affect a mind in both positive and negative ways. That said, a negative influence is more common in the minds of young people. Television is the main channel of violence in society. Families without a television are few and far between. All the people imitated something they saw as children. Behaving as if we could fly after watching a Superman movie... middle of paper... the decline in attendance would, of course, lead to parents limiting different uses of media, but they would not consider it a punishment, but rather a way to spend more quality time with your family. All media are intertwined with society. Media can change and influence adults' minds on certain decisions, even their outlook on different aspects of life. If adults fall prey to media influence, how can young people of this generation fight it? The media contains violence, sex and substance abuse that impress children and adolescents. If young people continue their current path of sex, drugs and violence, our country will become a dystopian society, where no one will feel safe. The media can do its part and reduce broadcast sex, drugs and violence, but parents of young people should spend more time without media to ensure their children understand what is fiction and what is acceptable in our society..